Average customer rating:
- When the federal government, the CIA, Cuban rebels and the Catholic Church are involved, action reigns
- Why Magic? Miami I guess?
- Overly florid prose, gaping plot holes diminish this suspense novel
- Jim Hall has another winner.
- A little disappointing but Hall still delivers a rolicking ride
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Magic City: A Novel (Thorn Mysteries)
James W. Hall
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Minotaur
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Hall, James W.
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ASIN: 0312271794
Release Date: 2007-03-06 |
Book Description
Based on real events, and newly declassified documents, Magic Citylike the films L.A. Confidential and Chinatownevokes a time in our nations history when powerful men were willing to do whatever they thought necessary to achieve their goals. A simple black and white photograph taken during the 1964 Clay-Liston fight on Miami Beach sets off a modern-day murder spree that reaches from the quiet neighborhoods of Miami to the back corridors of the White House. When the last remaining copy falls into Thorns hands, he and everyone he loves become the target of madmen and trained killers, each of whom has his own powerful motive to see the photograph destroyed forever and its secrets kept hidden.
Customer Reviews:
When the federal government, the CIA, Cuban rebels and the Catholic Church are involved, action reigns.......2007-05-30
On February 25, 1964, Cassius Clay defeated Sonny Liston. In Miami, Florida, a 12-year-old boy named Manuel Ricardo Morales, known as Snake, listens excitedly to the radio transmission of the fight. Originally from Cuba, Snake and his family came to Miami to elude the Fidel Castro regime. On this night, most of the members of the Morales family are killed, as Snake sees who he believes to be Castro's hit men enter his home and leave him an orphan. Although he fights back valiantly --- like his hero, Cassius Clay --- Snake also loses his beloved girlfriend, Carmen, to these thugs.
A photograph of the fight becomes critical to the plot from this point forward --- because sitting in row three of that picture is the man responsible for these horrific murders. A now-grown-up Snake discovers that Lawton Collins is in possession of a copy of the photograph and goes to Lawton's house to retrieve it. There, he and his friend find Thorn Truman, our protagonist, who is engaged to Alexandria Collins. "He would find the photo, decipher its meaning, and then do what was necessary, accomplishing each step with dispassionate focus. As Cassius had fought. Aloof, above the fray, deliberate, calculated, and merciless."
Lawton Collins is a terrific character. A retired cop, with a great sense of humor and irony, he is not a fan of Thorn dating his daughter. "It's about time she got back," Lawton said. "Leaving her old man in the hands of an unreliable doofus, what kind of daughter would do that to her defenseless old dad."
As a highly valued CIA operative, Pauline Caufield's role in maintaining a high-profile manufacturing executive cover provides readers with a second plot. The two storylines come together with the significance of the Cassius Clay-Sonny Liston photo.
What is particularly interesting about MAGIC CITY is the weaving and depth of the plot lines. Just when you think that James W. Hall has written a commonplace novel, he smacks you with another piece of the puzzle. This incredibly well-crafted story has all the elements to surprise, captivate and reassure the reader that this is a book worth reading.
Thorn Truman is hesitant to leave his home in the Florida Keys for his visit to Alexandria in Miami. He will soon see that he has good reason to be reluctant, as his trip to Miami will be nothing but ordinary. When the federal government, the CIA, Cuban rebels and the Catholic Church are involved, action reigns. Who is exonerated, who is blamed, and who sinks back into the woodwork? Read MAGIC CITY and find out for yourself.
--- Reviewed by Marge Fletcher
Why Magic? Miami I guess?.......2007-05-28
I like Hall. I really like the reprint of his first novel. Classic South Florida, and this too is a fastpaced Thorn adventure with our fly-tying Keys boat bum conch hero bustin things up in the dark designs of Miami. But it ain't the Keys and be forewarned. It starts with a snook in a mangrove pool near Thorn's Largo home and ends there as well, but aside from that there is no organic connection to the keys. This is good and bad. Good: an action packed novel, intense. New bad guys; many of us Keys afficianados are getting a little tired of long in the tooth heroes battling wicked condo developers. Nary a one shows his greedy face here. Bad: there is also precious little of Thorn's sattelite characters: Alexandra and Sugarman. And aside from the Altzhimers, the relationship of Thorn and her father is unexplained.
The premise in this novel is the gangster, Cuban exile, C.I.A. entanglements of the early sixties with Miami politicos and their resurfacing in the last decade via a photograph. There's pellet gun potshot madness on the beach and amid mangroves. Femme fatales. Murder. Agent provocateuring. Shadow figures. But there is a bit of a hole here and there in motivation and resolution. Almost like Hall wants to keep a couple of these folk around for the next step up the coast. Really, for a setting, I like Key Largo better and hope that in future he doen't drag us to Boca, DelRay or (appropriately) Melbourne as we chase down these aged spies and counter-revolutionaries.
Overly florid prose, gaping plot holes diminish this suspense novel.......2007-05-26
In trying to evoke the atmosphere of the Florida Keys and Miami, James Hall reduces them to picture postcard pastiches. In not too many pages, the novel begins to sound like a travelogue from the late 1940s. It doesn't help that Hall introduces a woman of mystery - - - you know, the breathy internal dialog in italics kind - - - who is supposed to provide some kind of backstory, but really turns out to be a silly plot device that wasn't at all necessary. Overall, Hall has taken a very thin storyline and padded it out with lyrical embellishments about Florida, Miami, the Keys, growing old, Cassius Clay, Cuba, nefarious plots and broken lives. It doesn't work.
The story begins with Stanton King, former boy wonder Mayor of Miami (though his family mansion is in Coral Gables) seeing a photo from the 1964 Cassis Clay (later Muhammad Ali) / Sonny Liston title match. In the third row off ringside, five spectators are visible, a sight that shocks King into immediate action. That action involves two brothers, Snake and Carlos Morales. Shortly after the prizefight, the Morales family and retainers were gunned down. The rumor was it was the work of Castro's Communists.
Thorn is one of those guys with no past and no future. He lives off the grid in the Florida Keys where he ekes out a living tying fishing flies. Thorn has no photo ID, no ATM or credit cards. He has a cloudy past and an even murkier future. But he has fallen in love with Alexandra Collins, a crime tech with the Miami PD. So Thorn goes to the big, bad city of Miami to take care of Alexandra's long-retired homicide cop dad, Lawton, who is slipping into dementia. Of course, dad doesn't like Thorn who simply isn't good enough for his daughter.
It is the photo of the Clay - Liston fight that brings these people together. Someone is out to destroy all the copies of the photo. People are being murdered in this quest - and it looks like still more people are being added to the list.
The chase is kind of routine. The bad guys try to kill Thorn. They miss Thorn, but kill or wound others. Thorn calls in his pal Sugarman from the Keys. Sugarman keeps urging Thorn to go back to the Keys. Shadowy figures from the CIA emerge. All this over a photo of a prize fight more than 40 years in the past.
Does it hang together? No. Does it end it a thrilling blaze of fire and glory? No. Is it a page turner? Not by a long shot.
The characters are really thin. Thorn is just another strong, silent, conflicted tough guy with a traumatic past. Everyone else is just window dressing. The plot has major holes in it. One character who supposedly has a photographic memory is blithely unaware that a killer he saw close-up and personal had a television show in Miami. Yeah. Makes a lot of sense.
"Magic City" isn't an awful book, but it isn't a terribly exciting suspense novel.
Jerry
Jim Hall has another winner........2007-05-25
I am thoroughly enjoying this book -- it's keeping me awake at night -- just one more chapter....
His character's are multifaceted and therefore very interesting. I enjoy the dynamics between Sugarman and Thorn and humorous way he depicts the plight of Lawton's Altzheimer's.
A little disappointing but Hall still delivers a rolicking ride .......2007-05-21
I'm a big fan of James Hall. I've read all of his novels. He is one the few authors I automatically bump to the front of the reading queue when they release a new novel.
I hate to say it, but I was a little disappointed by Hall's latest effort.
While Magic City has all of the elements I expect in a James Hall novel as I got further and further into the novel its premise started to wear thin for me. I had a hard time accepting the significance of the photograph that is at the heart of all the action. Even if the photo were to fall into the right hands (and there was no indication that anyone was paying much attention to it before the killing started), the photo doesn't prove much of anything.
I thought it took Thorn a little too long to figure out the motive for the 1964 murders (he was still trying to uncover the truth long after it seemed obvious to me) and the path he takes to solve the mystery was filled with far too many people who were much too eager to talk. Thorn is even given a mysterious note that helps him piece together the puzzle, which seemed a little too convenient for me.
Hall's best work features memorable killers and twisted (but not zany) humor. Magic City is light on both. Snake is a dud, Pauline is a stereo-typical cold-hearted b---h, and while the mysterious woman who randomly stings men on the beach with a BB gun has some potential, her motivation turns out to be a little simplistic in the end. There are a lot of bad guys in Magic City, but none are especially memorable.
Despite my grievances, it should be noted that this is still a James Hall novel (and therefore worth reading). While it isn't one of my favorites, Hall delivers a fast paced ride full of zigs and zags where the bad guys are as likely to kill one another as they are to kill the novel's hero. The plot is convoluted (in a good way), full of double crosses and unlikely alliances. I never get tired of Thorn, maybe because Hall doesn't try to make him too perfect. Thorn's stubbornness has tragic consequences in Magic City and his temper gets the best of him, but we root for him anyway. That's just the way he is.
Fans of the author will enjoy the ride. First time readers should start with some of the author's earlier work (personally, I recommend Bones of Coral & Gone Wild).
Book Description
In a time when the Industrial Revolution has become an all-out war, Mad Science rules the World...with mixed success. At Transylvania Polygnostic University, Agatha Clay was a student with trouble concentrating and rotten luck. Dedicated to her studies but unable to build anything that actually worked, she seemed destined for a lackluster career as a minor lab assistant. But then the University was overthrown and Agatha was taken aboard the giant airship Castle Wulfenbach - where it begins to look like she might carry a spark of Mad Science after all.
Customer Reviews:
The fun continues in volume 2.......2007-08-30
Great fun, as are all of the Heterodyne books - I especially appreciate the "overdrawn poking-fun-at-Gothic" artwork throughout, and the "biographies" of the contributors. On a side note, thanks to these, one of my friends is actually trying to build a dirigible... oh well!
One slight problem with several of the Girl Genius volumes - the binding is very weak, and I've actually had to get Amazon to replace this one, as it fell apart when I opened it. Luckily, Amazon is simple and easy, and this one isn't their fault - the publisher is being scrooge-ish with their glue. Examine carefully when they arrive, and don't hesitate to send them back for replacements. This series is too good, and too compulsively readable to miss! (or to suffer with bad copies... )
Mad Science was never so fun..........2007-08-13
Return to the world of adventure, romance, airships, mad scientists and power hungry Nobles. Agatha Clay, now on the giant airship Castle Wulfenbach, wishes she could leave. Pretending to be the lover of a soldier while surrounded by monsters, angry constructs and talking cats is not her idea of fun.
But getting away isn't as easy as it might look when traveling thousands of feet about the ground while hostage to one of the most powerful men in Europe!
Great stuff.......2007-05-16
Phil and Kaja Foglio are marvelous. Girl Genius has an engaging, complex plot line; intriguing premise; characters full of personality; and great art - detailed, beautiful, very expressive, and always keep an eye out for what's going on in the background. There is lots of humor in the Foglios' work, with the text and art working together perfectly. The only downside is waiting for the next volume to be published!
Another excellent book that deepens the field.......2006-10-26
This second collection is just as good as the first one (while there are certain aspects that are better, the "raw fun" of the first one is a little more controlled here). There is little I can say to praise it enough that has not been covered in the other reviews or in the description, but I do want to point out something that makes me love this series.
While Girl Genius starts out as sort of a silly story with an odd cast, it quickly exposes one of its themes: the nature of legend versus truth. In this second volume, we begin to see more and more of the legends that build up the world. In contrast, we get more and more hints that legends do not always tell the story as it truly happens. This juxtaposition between belief and reality plays an important part in the storytelling method. False thing become increasingly chipped away at, enabling a story that seemingly is given away at the start a chance to actually grow and mature. Though we are told in Volume 1 what will end up happening, we quicly learn that there is a big divide in the legends and the reality which brings them about.
You end up becoming entranced, nervous, even though you know "the outcome".
Great fun, this series.
Steampunk Silliness.......2006-09-06
I really enjoyed this comic, which is an unpretentious, clever, and fun story; something too uncommon in comics these days! However I can't rate it as a major work, and the art is only "good enough."
Agatha "Clay" unsuspectedly has mad scientist ("spark") abilities; desireable in a 19th-century-ish Europe where the princelings of the 100 Years War are all mad scientists with steampunk war engines. This adventure, part II of the series, finds Agatha a prisoner in the zeppelin/fortress of Baron von Wulfenbach and his son Gil, where she is mistaken as the girlfriend of a soldier mistaken as the inventor of her inventions! Adventure, danger, and romance intertwine as she makes sense of her new surroundings and finds clues to her true identity (which, by the by, isn't QUITE discovered in this volume, nor are her "spark" talents more than suspected - by the other characters!)
The Foglios do a first-class plotting and storytelling job here, and especial kudos for a part II that stands on its own! The art is humor-manga style, and acceptable if unremarkable. IMHO, however, the artist (McNabb?) drops the ball on opportunities to have fun with some of Phil's silly inventiveness. I was also not impressed by Agatha regularly awakening (after sleep-inventing) in nightwear of the babydoll/merry widow variety.
A 6-page stand-alone story, "Spark of the Realm", is also included. Trelawney Thorpe, a 19th-C Lara Croft, must outwit a mad scientist seeking the powerful crown of King Arthur. The story is ok and the art a bit better than the main feature.
I'd strongly recommend this volume to anyone who enjoys comic manga, fantasy, or steampunk.
Book Description
"A mystical tale, full of spirits . . . Rhodes's exciting and moving novel takes off at a vigorous, lively clip from the first page, plunging through complex ideas and relationships without neglecting any of them."
-- San Francisco Chronicle
Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1921. A white woman and a black man are alone in an elevator. Suddenly, the woman screams, the man runs out, and the chase to capture and lynch him begins.
When Joe, a young man trying to be the next Houdini, is accused of rape, he must perform his greatest escape by eluding a bloodthirsty lynch mob. And Mary, the motherless daughter of a farmer who tries to marry her off to the farmhand who viciously raped her, must find the courage to help exonerate the man she had accused with her panicked cry. Based on true events, Magic City is a portrait of an era, climaxing in the heroic but doomed stand that pitted the National Guard against a small band of black men determined to defend the town they had built into the "Negro Wall Street."
Named by the Chicago Tribune as a Favorite Book of 1997
"Jewell Parker Rhodes's characters hover. They dance and sing and cry and whisper secrets in your ear."
--Emerge
Customer Reviews:
JPR does a wonderful job.......2007-08-31
This is the second one of her novels I have read and I am now hooked. It was both compelling and disturbing, and emotional. I had to force myself to go to bed at 2am instead of finishing up the book. The author really knows how to bring the characters to life, and although it's a work of fiction it is based on actual events that I never knew about until reading this book. BUY THIS BOOK...NO BUY ALL OF HER BOOKS, I know that I am and I can't wait to read the next one.
Excellent, Hard to Put Down Reading.......2005-12-04
I loved this book. I am an avid reader of African history in the United States, and although this was fiction, it brought to life the experience of being black in a white man's world and female in a white man's world. Recommend to anyone!
Great Historical Fiction.......2003-05-18
Magic City was a thought provoking, yet enjoyable read. The main characters, Joe Samuels, black, and Mary Keane, white, reared in two different environments with different values, yet had many similiarities. They both had domineering fathers and they both yearned to leave their clutches. They both had jobs that were totally against their fathers' wishes and they were both lonely in their own ways. After their initial meeting in an elevator sent Joe running for his life, Mary did all she could to prove him innocent of a blameless crime. The fact that this novel was conjured from actual events evoked many emotions and made it even more endearing.
Enlightening....and Sad.............2002-02-02
Magic City: the novel is a work of historical fiction set in 1920's Tulsa, OK aka "the Magic City" due to its beauty and prosperity from the booming successes of the surrounding oil fields. Life is good for Whites and even better for African Americans in the small all-black section, Deep Greenwood, where black-owned banks, businesses, churches, and schools thrive for its middle-class citizens. A segregated but peaceful coexistence is interrupted by accusation of the rape of a white woman named Mary Keane. In a classic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, the central character Joe Samuels, a misunderstood black son of a banker, runs for his life to the bosom of Greenwood. The townsfolk rally to defend their native son much to the dismay of the bigoted deputies and mayor of Tulsa.
In some respects, the theme echoed those in the movie "Rosewood". Only this time, the author lightens the story adding depth and dimension to Mary and Joe. Joe's fascination with his idols Harry Houdini and his older brother, Harry, adds an element of fantasy that reveals inner conflicts, family secrets, and other aspects of self discovery and healing for the character. The author shows us Mary's world and Rhodes' writing style actually allows us to feel for both characters that are caught in a downward spiral of cataclysmic events. The supporting cast of characters adds to the story appropriately without overwhelming the main characters. She uses their voices to share the history of how blacks migrated to the area after the Civil War. She conveys the frustration and disappointment that the African Americans soldiers experienced when returning home from WWI. And she paints an adequate picture of the organized, systematic destruction of Greenwood to intentionally disenfranchise and humiliate its black citizens. The reader also lifts from the pages the resolve and determination of an oppressed people--people who were tired of being treated as second class citizens, people who had fought for freedom overseas only to be denied it at home, people who sought justice and equality, and people who were willing to die to obtain it.
This was an easy read; the novel moves well and quickly. I was a little disappointed in the ending, but Rhodes allows the reader to "fill in the blanks" on their own volition by citing fictional resources in the Author's Notes to allow the readers to follow-up if desired.
Enlightening....3.5 Stars.......2002-02-01
Magic City: the novel is a work of historical fiction set in 1920's Tulsa, OK aka "the Magic City" due to its beauty and prosperity from the booming successes of the surrounding oil fields. Life is good for Whites and even better for African Americans in the small all-black section, Deep Greenwood, where black-owned banks, businesses, churches, and schools thrive for its middle-class citizens. A segregated but peaceful coexistence is interrupted by accusation of the rape of a white woman named Mary Keane. In a classic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, the central character Joe Samuels, a misunderstood black son of a banker, runs for his life to the bosom of Greenwood. The townsfolk rally to defend their native son much to the dismay of the bigoted deputies and mayor of Tulsa.
In some respects, the theme echoed those in the movie "Rosewood". Only this time, the author lightens the story adding depth and dimension to Mary and Joe. Joe's fascination with his idols Harry Houdini and his older brother, Harry, adds an element of fantasy that reveals inner conflicts, family secrets, and other aspects of self discovery and healing for the character. The author shows us Mary's world and Rhodes' writing style actually allows us to feel for both characters that are caught in a downward spiral of cataclysmic events. The supporting cast of characters adds to the story appropriately without overwhelming the main characters. She uses their voices to share the history of how blacks migrated to the area after the Civil War. She conveys the frustration and disappointment that the African Americans soldiers experienced when returning home from WWI. And she paints an adequate picture of the organized, systematic destruction of Greenwood to intentionally disenfranchise and humiliate its black citizens. The reader also lifts from the pages the resolve and determination of an oppressed people--people who were tired of being treated as second class citizens, people who had fought for freedom overseas only to be denied it at home, people who sought justice and equality, and people who were willing to die to obtain it.
This was an easy read; the novel moves well and quickly. I was a little disappointed in the ending--I think I was expecting more closure with other characters, but Rhodes allows the reader to "fill in the blanks" on their own volition by citing fictional resources in the Author's Notes to allow the readers to follow-up if desired.
Average customer rating:
- An extraordinarily written book
- Reaching Back to Roots
- About The Magic Journey
- The Magic Didn't Last
- Possibly the best book I have ever read!
|
The Magic Journey: A Novel
John Nichols
Manufacturer: Holt Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0805063390 |
Book Description
Boom times came to the forgotten little southwestern town of Chamisaville just as the rest of America was in the Great Depression. They came when a rattletrap bus loaded with stolen dynamite blew sky-high, leaving behind a giant gushing hot spring. Within minutes, the town's wheeler-dealers had organized, and within a year, Chamisaville was flooded with tourists and pilgrims, and the wheeler-dealers were rich.Spanning forty years, The Magic Journey tells the tale of how progress transformed a rural backwater into a boomtown. At first, it was a magic time for Chamisaville-almost as if every day were a holiday. But the euphoria gradually dissipated, and the land-hungry developers, speculators, and interlopers moved in. Finally, the day came when Chamisaville's people found themselves all but displaced, their children no longer heirs to their land or their tradition. With mounting intensity, The Magic Journey reaches a climax that is tragically foreordained. A sensitive, vital, and honest chronicle of life in America's Southwest, it is also an incisive commentary on what America has become on its road to progress.The Magic Journey is part of the New Mexico Trilogy, which includes The Milagro Beanfield War and The Nirvana Blues.
Customer Reviews:
An extraordinarily written book.......2005-06-09
John Nichols is perhaps one of our best contemporary writers, and it's a shame that he isn't more prolific and more accessible to the general reading public. He uses language like poetry, and his characters jump off the pages with their idiosyncracies. There are good guys, bad guys, and everything in between. Here, Nichols explores the subject that seems to most interests him, namely, the cultural destruction of a small southwestern town due to "progress," and the never ending quest for more riches. He never pretends that life was so great before, or that gentrification is always bad, but Nichols certainly wants the reader to understand the unfortunate consequences of converting a small town into a vacation spot on the lives of those who live there.
It is not easy to read "The Magic Journey." The plot tends to drag in places, and, Nichols liberally sprinkles his prose with Spanish, which, unfortunately, I don't speak. Nichols also tends to show off his prodigious knowledge concerning the southwest and its environment, and is somewhat heavy handed in his anti-progress stance. However, the writing is so beautiful that it is well worth it, even if you can read only a few pages of the book each day. Eventually, I intend to read the other two books in the trilogy.
Reaching Back to Roots.......2005-05-20
This book gives a true meaning of going back to your roots especially when you can make a connection with the characters. This book is thought provoking in the sense that one can see the authors insight of the past, and apply it in the current debacle of our current society and its quest for wealth, even in the face of destroying culture and people in the process. The genious prose that sets John Nichols apart is clear and being able to bring to life a culture and people lost to time and greed is amazing.
About The Magic Journey.......2004-01-10
Apparently this is the second book in a trilogy, something I failed to notice until I'd finished. It stands alone quite nicely and I suspect the other two would do the same.
It is loosly the story of a forgotten southwestern town named Chamisaville during the Great Depression, and how it went from being small and self sufficiant to being a much larger "better" modern city thanks to a rattletrap bus loaded high with dynamite exploding and leaving a miracle behind that a few quick thinkers were quick to exploit.
It is also the story of April, the daughter of one of the foremost of those interested in the Betterment of Chamisaville. Vibrant, intoxicatingly beautiful, full of life and enthusiasim for everything but a tendancy to jump from one thing to another that leaves those in her wake feeling rather lost.
It is a story of how important fighting againt progress for the sake of progress is, and how futile... The fight that is going to be lost eventually, but you desperately struggle to hold off the inevitable as long as possible.
The writing style is such that though its about the same length of the books I normally read, I think it took me about twice as long to get through. Some of this was because I found myself needing to take breaks to think about what was happening, some of it was that it was not dry, but... the style itself conjured images of a forgotten town that was happier being forgotton.
Had you asked me at the beginning if I liked it, the answer would have been no. Half way through I couldn't have said, and by the end I thought it was worth having read, if not one I would be likely to read again. Now that its been a few days I would have to say it is not one that I would likely read again soon, but it is entirely possible that at some point in the future I may pick it back up and see what I can find on a second reading.
The Magic Didn't Last.......2000-11-26
Owl needs a better editor. The typos in the book are extremely distracting and very large in number. Although I was interested in the plot, I tired of the pathetic characters long before the end. Keep a Spanish dictionary handy if you are not bilingual. (This is another reason that I did not enjoy the book.)
Possibly the best book I have ever read!.......1998-08-22
This novel of the cultural, political, and economic evolution of northern New Mexico, starts with the "miraculous" explosion of a bus filled with dynamite in the 1930's and documents the devastating effect that discovery by the outside world has on separate but intertwined white, Hispanic, and Indian cultures in a small mountain town. This evolution is described through the eyes of strong, well developed characters that sparkle with complexity and humor. Nichols paints a picture of cultural and environmental destruction with dry humor and stark narrative. For anyone wishing to understand the recent history of the most beautiful portions of New Mexico, a must read.
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Amazon.com's Significant Seven
Ed Greenwood kindly agreed to take the life quiz we like to give to all our authors: the Amazon.com Significant Seven.
Q: What book has had the most significant impact on your life?
A: I can't possibly pick just one. The Lord of the Rings is one of them, but there have been so many. I have 80,000 of them at home right now.
Q: You are stranded on a desert island with only one book, one CD, and one DVD--what are they?
A: The book: any Discworld omnibus (Terry Pratchett), because I'm greedy. I think I'll ask him if I can pick my own selection, the next time his publishers are slapping several titles together. If it really must be just a single book: A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay.
The CD: Cheating time again. Your Hundred Best Tunes (London label, two four-CD sets, but a dearly loved and now-vanished store, the Madrigal, once sold them taped together, in a brick of glorious music). Force me to pick just one? I can't. Tubular Bells? Selling England by the Pound? Eldorado? No, I just can't.
The DVD: Jackson's complete Lord of the Rings set. If I really can only pick a single disc: The Man Who Would Be King (Connery, Caine, and Plummer). Beats The Princess Bride by a nose, some days but not others.
Q: What is the worst lie you've ever told?
A: Not telling a friend that the love of her life had just been killed, because I didn't think she should learn that from me, in that place, at that time. It hurt to do it, and I still think it was the right thing to do, but it still hurts.
Q: Describe the perfect writing environment.
A: A Secret Place: a quiet spot where I can go off by myself to think. For me, a forest glade. That just happens to have electricity running up a handy stump, right beside a smooth stump angled to sit upon. Not just for my computer, but for kettles so I can brew endless mugs of green tea and hot chocolate.
Q: If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?
A: Here lies Ed, who tried to make people happy. Please sit down and have an easy moment. I now have plenty to share.
Q: Who is the one person living or dead that you would like to have dinner with?
A: Any of my grandfathers ("Any?" long story), because I was too young to be able to pick their brains in a candid, man-to-man fashion ere they died. Not just because I'd love to know the truth, or at least their side, of various family tales, events, and disputes. Not just because I desperately want to know more of their characters, and spend more time with them. It's also because they were gushing, articulate fonts of knowledge about times now gone, the daily customs and attitudes and aspirations of "then." The saying: "There were MEN in those days" comes to mind. And no, I'm not belittling the women of the family. They did talk to me, at eloquent length, before passing away. They knew the importance of sharing and passing lore on.
Q: If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
A: The power to read people's minds, at very close range and only when I tried to. Not to read bank account numbers or anything of the sort, but to know their true feelings, so as not to offend and so I can best make them happy. Spreading happiness has to be the most heroic thing ordinary folk can daily do.
Book Description
The fourth novel in The Cities series, set against the background of civil strife at the heart of the Forgotten Realms setting. This novel is set in the most important city of the Forgotten Realms setting: Waterdeep, city of intrigue and secrets. Its authors are considered by fans to be among the most authoritative figures writing in the Forgotten Realms setting, and each has a legion of loyal readers. This novel is their first collaboration.
Customer Reviews:
Not their best..........2006-11-14
I was hoping for something great. Ed Greenwood and Elaine Cunningham together... Well, the prologue was awesome and I bought the book.
Chapter after chapter, I was hoping for the story to get interesting... at last... to no avail.
Not everything was bad. I learned some interesting things about the city and got the feel of some places at least.
I will try to forget this book and fondly remember others I enjoyed so much.
dry and unimaginative.......2006-10-19
being a loyal forgotten realms fan, i was disappointed with greenwood's take on waterdeep. the story line never drew me in and the characters were one dimensional and largely uninteresting. would definitely not recommend this book - thank goodness he didn't write a trilogy.
Great for fans.......2006-09-10
Im actually surprised by some of the more negative reviews, i found this arguably one of the best d&d based novels i've read, and i have read no small number.
Its a quick fun story with several characters i really enjoyed, the depiction of khelben arunsun in the beginning was better written and painted a more interesting character then the entire blackstaff novel did, though this book does not focus on him. The main characters were amusing and interesting. All in all if your interested in waterdeep, or a fan of the forgotten realms it is worth a read, as mentioned before its become one of my favorite d&d novels.
As for its downside, the primary enemy to me was actually less interesting then the misadventures of the main group, whom manage to in my opinion make up for it, the ending was not my favorite either.
In the end its better then average realms fare, but lacking the epic scope of some of the more famous d&d series, still for a single shot story its fun and provides a interesting look in to the city of splendors.
About average.......2006-09-03
WATERDEEP: THE CITY OF SPLENDORS is by no means a bad book. It even becomes decent in parts, but at the beginning, it's stifled by mediocrity. The Gemcloaks I find boring, the dialogue I find overblown (with trademark Greenwood vocabulary and phrasing), the narrative nothing special and oh, the character descriptions? They come in info-dumps that tell you what the character looks like from head to toe, a bit about the character's personality, and a bit about the character's background. They are shoved all at once down your throat, and that is never a pleasant experience. It strikes me as amateurish, but then, many other FR novelists do the same. There's even a paragraph consisting of one long, messy run-on. With this and the inconsistencies in other novels (WAR OF THE SPIDER QUEEN's internal factual errors, game products not agreeing with novels, novels not agreeing with novels, factual errors in THE LAST MYTHAL trilogy), it's obvious that WotC has no editing standards whatsover. Is it any wonder that some people consider this line of novels to be laughingstock or hack jobs, even in the fantasy genre?
The storyline meanders a fair bit, and there are probably too many characters. It does start to come together about two-third through the book, though, which is a good thing. I far from oppose this kind of plot: it keeps things unpredictable, even if one has to put up what seems initially to be unfocused and somewhat undisciplined. We have the "New Day" people, with Dyre at the center: at first, again, I found them irritating because it doesn't seem like they'll go anywhere, just old men gibbering about things they'll never get around to. The Gemcloaks are so-so. The Dyrre daughters are all right. For many chapters, I mostly read it for Lark and, of course, for Elaith, a character I've always been fond of in Elaine Cunningham's novels. Mrelder is another character that interested me from early on. All in all, though, I do think that as fantasy characters go, CoS' cast comprises of a fairly atypical mix: an aged master stonemason, his daughters and maidservant, a sorcerer who's not so much evil as... afflicted with issues, and nobles that don't start off being nice and friendly to the common people (a tired device to make them sympathetic. Befriending the kitchen help, and all that; these young men act as those raised opulent and carefree should -- they are brats).
But ultimately, I don't think I cared much for the characters. One Gemcloak dies, but all that came to mind for me was "Oh, yay, we're down with one pointless character!" It's one of the least moving death scenes in fiction I've ever read, and part of that has to do with the fact that Gemcloaks mostly share the same personality. They have a few distinguishing trait and they wear cloaks with different colors, but in most scenes, you can substitute one's name with another and it will still read the same. The characterization, here, is incredibly lazy. I think the book'd have been better off with just three Gemcloaks. The cameo of Asper and Mirt annoyed the living daylight out of me; once again, Mirt pops up to make the same kind of "sly" comments and give "wise" advice, and Asper appears to make men gawk at her (look, she's not only amazing with a blade but also seductive and sexually aggressive -- just like every other Greenwood female character; how refreshing!). Author's darlings, author's darlings. I wish Greenwood would actually develop them or kill them off already. They're just boring and have nothing new to do or say. I swear, even if the Walking Statues had trampled all of Waterdeep into dust, Greenwood's pet characters would still somehow survive.
Elaith's scenes shine. There's an edge to everything he does, though I wish they would drop his angst already. His "conflict with my past! conflict with my morality! I am tortured!" has gone on for a long, long while, and by this point it's become tiresome.
Golskyn's megalomania... came out of the blue. Aren't evil overlord types with insanity a little dated, here? Worse, his madness seems to be a plot device for Mrelder to get out of his father's shadow. It's random and weird. Yes, he's a bit too much "Domination monster domination dominationtion!" from the start, but he started off relatively sane. Why the sudden insanity? What triggered it? Did he get hit by one of those dementia spells?
Still, I liked the overall tone of the ending: not happy, not entirely subdued, but somewhere in the between. Tragic but hopeful, which is, I think, the happy medium. I didn't much care for the action-packed parts, however. Brief action punctuated with "BOOM" gets really old really fast, and if I see the word "BOOM" again, it'll be too soon.
Grade= D+ Fair to Poor.......2006-07-21
This is a slow story that fails to hold the readers interest, it is difficult to read due to lack luster settings and prose, and populated with un-interesting characters. The plot is silly and boring, I did not care at all about story line or the characters, and found this completely dull.
Overall= D+
Readability= D, Character= D, Plot= D, Setting= D, Action= D+, Romance= D+.
Book Description
In this third entry in the Pokemon Adventures series, Red, Blue, and Green must rescue Professor Oak from Team Rocket in a deserted Saffron City. Then Red tracks down Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket, in order to do battle. Next, Blaine, a scientist who defected from Team Rocket, creates a monster: Mewtwo, the most powerful psychic Pokemon ever. And now Red must defeat it alone! Don't count on the happy ending of Pokemon: The First Movie. This time Team Rocket means business. These stories follow the adventures of trainers Red and Blue and new characters as they explore forests, jungles, cities, and caves in search of Pokemon — and try to outwit Team Rocket, a mysterious group of villains who want to use Pokemon for evil.
Customer Reviews:
very different from the anime.......2007-06-09
When my cousin told me about pokemon adventures, I laughed at him but after reading it myself I can tell you that pokemon adventures is very different from the cartoon. A little bit more teen-adult oriented. Kind of like harry potter or incredibles story, where the audience is for kids but people who are kids at heart can enjoy it too!
Insane!.......2003-07-10
This thick comic book is a bargain. It's much cheaper than the seperate comics, and easier to carry around.
This is Part 3 of a Pokemon trainer named Red. His rival is Blue, his theif friend is Green. First, he must stop Team Rocket from taking over his home town Pallet Town, then it's off to capture Mewtwp, and then to the League to battle Blue for the championship.
This comic is a little similiar to the T.V series. Red being Ash, Blue bieng Gary. But Red doesn't have pathetic Pokemon like Ash does, there is no anoying Jessie and James interupting and then blasting off again, and Gary is is same self.
This comic is a must have for collectors.
A Great Buy!.......2003-02-21
This is great. It's one of my favorite pokemon comics! It has lots of action mixed in with adventure, and unlike the other series, which goes by the name of "Pokemon" (Very origial, isn't it?) It features a new and original adventure with new characters and isn't a tv show rip off. In this one Red (the hero) must save the world from the plans of team rocket with the help of his friends and pokepals. In the end he enters the pokemon league; will he face Blue in the finals, and does he even stand a chance? And more importantly, who is the mystery trainer green must battle against? (You'll find out.) There are two others befor this, Legendary Pokemon and Desparado Pikachu. After this comes comics which are adapted from the Yellow version of the game.
For a great pokemon experience and lots of fun, get this befor the "This item is not stocked or has been discontinued." notice appears!
An "above average" book.......2003-02-14
This volume is my favorite, probably because it seems to be the most interesting one to read. Although the artwork is not extremely detailed, it still carries the story out quite well, and has lots of action. If you like Pokemon and manga, this book is for you. A fun read for younger audiences. (Hint: buying the graphic novel versions is actually cheaper than buying the individual comics!)
What A Great Book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.......2001-12-29
This book is the bomb of the series.
First Team Rocket attacks Saffron! Red, Blue and Green must work with each other to rescue Prof. Oak and to defeat Team rocket. Red meets with with Lt. Surge, Blue meets with Koga, and Green ends up with Sabrina! These evil Gym Leaders are arme with the 3 legendary bird Pokemon!
Next it's a show down with Blaine, Red, and Mewtwo! Can Red catch Mewtwo?
Then it's Red's biggest Gym Battle yet. With Giovanni! Can Red beat the leader of Team Rocket or will he have to work at Giovannis side for the rest of his life?
Lastly Red finally makes it to the Pokemon Leage. And what's green's problem when she was 5? Theres also this mysterious trainer calle " Dr. O " It's reds final battle to see who's better in the finals. Is it Red....Or Blue?
Read to find out!
Customer Reviews:
CITY OF LIGHT CITY OF DARK.......2003-02-28
When a token that controls the fate of Long Island is lost it's up to one girl, Sarah Groff, to get it back. It's the 45th day of the 13th moon; the humans come to an island. The island is owned by the Kurbs, creatures who thrive on darkness. The humans ask for permission to live on the island. The Kurbs say yes but on one condition, every year the humans have to find the Kurbs' power source. The humans granted one person powers to find the power. When a "Neon Light Genius", Mr. Underton, finds out about the Kurbs awesome power he is determined to find it. He figures out who is the one who carries out the sacred "power source ritual." He makes his right hand man meet the woman. His right hand man and the woman fall deeply in love and have a baby, they name her Sarah Groff. Mr. Underton takes the baby and forces his right hand man to live a new life, start over. Sarah grows up thinking her mother is dead when she gets in a giant mess containing her father, mother, the token, and Mr. Underton. Does she find the token? Does she find out about her real mother? Those are questions the book will answer. I thought this book was a real "page turner." New questions kept popping up. This book was a giant comic, which made it even better. The author Avi can take a place and make it seem like another world. I also thought the book was suspenseful, you think that something is going to happen and something completely different happens. That's why I loved this book so much.
One of the best books ever!.......2002-10-21
I thought this was an astounding and ingenious book. There are people called "Kurbs" and they own an island and have a lot of POWER. Unfortunately, after an accident that caused him to be blind, a man wants to take the POWER for himself and the token in which the POWER rests. He keeps ordering his assistant to get the token, but the assistant marries the woman with the token. Then a boy finds the token while being attacked by pigeons, and then the rest of the story turns into a fast-paced adventure involving the token. Read the book to find out more!
It was just OK..........2000-10-05
I really didn't find anything outstanding (or particularly bad) about this graphic novel. There are many good graphic novels, such as _Maus_, but this is not one of them. The "graphic" aspect is nice in places (such as the cityscapes), but overall is uninspiring. The "novel" aspect tells a story that is entertaining, but lacks depth in the characters. The story is also presented as something of an allegory, but it is not at all clear to me what it could represent -- any ideas I came up with did not sync with the complete story. While I'm a grown-up, I do read a fair amount of childeren's literature, and I don't feel that this would really appeal to any age group (other than those trying to find an easy way out of a book report). However, I'm not saying it's a bad book; I gave it 3 stars because it's just average.
One of the best.......2000-07-06
This is one of my favorite Avi books. It is told in a comic book form, but don't let that fool you. It would have been just as good if it had been writen as a novel, but the black and white pictures really add depth to the story.
City of Light, City of Dark.......2000-07-01
My 11-year-old son read this book, who is not much of a reader in the first place, except for Harry Potter -- and he found it exceptional. This is the first book that he he continued reading until it was completely done. The story is based on a boy and girl, trying to recover a gold token hidden by the "Kurbs". Once they find it and return it to the "Kurbs", society can continue living on Earth. In the meantime a blind neon sign builder is trying to capture the token in order to light up his neon signs. Granted it was basically in a comic format, but the story line was interesting enough to keep his interest. He is now reading "Man From the Sky" also by Avi, and finds it just as intriguing. It's good to know that there's an author out there to catch the interest of an 11-year-old.
Books:
- Magic Tree House Boxed Set of 4, Books 9-12: Dolphins at Daybreak, Ghost Town at Sundown, Lions at Lunchtime, and Polar Bears Past Bedtime
- Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War
- Milk Glass Moon: A Novel (Ballantine Reader's Circle)
- Morality Play: Case Studies in Ethics
- My Brother's Road: An American's Fateful Journey to Armenia
- My Heart Is a Magic House
- Only Love Is Real: A Story of Soulmates Reunited
- Plain Jane: A Novel of Jane Seymour
- Promise Me (Myron Bolitar Mysteries)
- Protocol Matters: Cultivating Social Graces in Christian Homes and Schools
Books Index
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